Putting your info into my calculator I get $99.65 for the raw cut piece out of 12 gauge. That includes no design time, finishing time or materials.Two hours design time and finishing bring that piece up to $272.45 in my estimator at my rates.Take it for what it is.

tnbndr wrote:Putting your info into my calculator I get $99.65 for the raw cut piece out of 12 gauge. That includes no design time, finishing time or materials.Two hours design time and finishing bring that piece up to $272.45 in my estimator at my rates.Take it for what it is.

Ok, so I am using the plasma estimator from Dave Kearley. How do y'all figure your numbers to plug in?1 material mark up is 200%2 15 cents per pierce.3 cost per cut mark up is 200%4 Design time is 30.00 hr.5 default mark up 200%6 paint or patina is 80.00 a square yrd.7 clear is 60.00 a square yrd8 welding is 10 cents an inch

I use the PlasmaEstimator from Dave Kearley, with my prices obviously.

I struggle to get pricing that seems reasonable to me.

You have to feel the market out in your area to see what will sell at what price range and then adjust your program numbers accordingly. What I sell for $200 might only bring $125 in your area, just an example I have no idea where you are. It might also sell for $400 in another area.

How do y'all figure your numbers to plug in

I used a piece that I know sells at a certain price and I played with the numbers until that worked out. But even after I use the estimator if I feel the piece will command more or it is a custom piece I will increase the price. I don't use the estimator much as a lot of my work is custom and the customer wants a quote / ballpark figure while we are on the phone or standing in the yard, so I have done this long enough to shoot from the hip.

PlasmaEstimator Setup.JPG

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I have seen this program, but have not tried it. I don't see anywhere to put the price per inch. How is this calculated? Also, does it figure the totals off of the CAD drawing or a SheetCam report or what? I have just been going off of so much per inch of cutting, so much per pierce and marking up the material by a %. The cutting/piercing price is adjusted for material thickness. Sometimes the smallish art with a lot of detail comes up with a pretty steep price.

I have seen this program, but have not tried it. I don't see anywhere to put the price per inch

It does not use price per inch, it uses material cost, pierces, and cut time tied to labor cost which is price per inch if you take the time to calculate it.

Also, does it figure the totals off of the CAD drawing or a SheetCam report or what?

You run a sheet cam report on the drawn project and save it, then this program imports that data. It takes a bit to set up and get everything linked but once you tune it to a project you know that costs on it is good to go. The post that has the program has a lot of information on setting it up.

I have just been going off of so much per inch of cutting, so much per pierce and marking up the material by a %

If it is working for you that is fine. I do a lot of pricing off the cuff from experience, always err to the greater.!!!! It's always nice to play with programs though that use actual data.